


A White Kingdom

by MissIF



Category: Bleach
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Blood, Character Death, Fantasy, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-08-07 22:57:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7733071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissIF/pseuds/MissIF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Diplomacy can be dangerous, Kuchiki Rukia learned the hard way. Being accused of murder and forced on the run with her loyal friend Abarai Renji she must fight for her own life as well as all of Soul Society. With the help of the half-breed boy Kurosaki Ichigo and his even stranger friends, Rukia will risk her life to stop the war and kill the king.</p>
<p>First Ao3 story. On Hiatus</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Today was the day.

Rukia jumped from her bed and grabbed her robe and slippers, then ran to her private bathroom. A quick cleaning and warm bath, and she was ready. For the next half hour she spent her time making sure that every aspect of herself was perfect; makeup, hair styled with a single bang in her face, and no such thing as a wrinkle in her morning kimono. To finish the look Rukia wove a silver hair clip into the side of her hair, a symbol of her status in the house.

Throwing on her house slippers, she left the room and made her way down the hall, passing servants and other staff members, until coming to the tea room and taking her place at the table. The room is small, enough to fit ten, with green meadows and forests painted on the walls and new washi paper in the shoji doors. As she sits on one of the throw pillows, a tray of soup and rice is placed in front of her with a side of Rukia's favourite grilled fish. The maid, a girl with brown hair and kind eyes, also places a cup of fresh tea. Rukia thanks her and begins her meal, trying with all her might not to scarf the food down and get on with her day.

"You're up early."

Immediately Rukia stands up from her seat, "Nee-sama!", and bows as her sister enters the room. As always, Hisana looks amazing even in a simple morning house robe, her hair still tousled from sleeping. Rukia's older sister smiled and the two sat down as Hisana's own meal was brought to her.

"Excited?"

"Very," Rukia answered. "I'd thought this day would never come."

Hisana laughed, "Well I'm glad you're excited, but don't try to get your hopes up. It is a diplomatic visit, we'll only be there for a few days."

"I know, but I've never seen the place before. Not a lot of shinigami get to leave the Soul Society, especially a low ranking one such as myself."

"Don't say that, you've been doing your best. I'm sure you'll get a promotion soon enough."

Rukia smiled. Her sister, unlike her husband, was very encouraging when it came to Rukia's career as a shinigamai. She trained regularly, both in the barracks and in private, but had yet to make a seat in the Thirteenth Company. Like Hisana, Rukia's captain and assistant captain both had said before that she had great potential, but what Rukia was really striving for was to impress her brother, Hisana's husband, Kuchiki Byakuya. The head of the Kuchiki clan as well as the Sixth Company Captain, Rukia's brother was one of the most important people in Soul Society, and so he had been entrusted with the important job of playing political diplomat on behalf of the Court Guard.

Finishing her meal, Rukia excused herself to her room to change from her robes. She threw the garment onto her bed and replaced it with her far more befitting shihakusho. With the utmost silence she lifted the window in her room and jumped out, immediately breaking into bursts of shunpo towards her brothers Company. Knowing her destination like the back of her hand, Rukia slipped easily into the barracks and made her jolly way to her targets room, ignoring the loud snores that came from there. Creeping in like a mouse, she tip-toed towards the bed her victim slept on, calm and relaxed in his deep sleep unaware of her presence, and at the peak of a particularly deep breath, drove her foot into the belly of the Assistant Captain.

Renji, whom had been having an extraordinary dream that he would never remember, gagged on his own dribble and doubled over in bed as he caught his breath and screamed at the person who had woken him.

"W-What the hell Rukia!? I was sleeping!"

"It's nine o'clock, you should have been up two hours ago."

"It's a Friday!"

"It is also the day we are leaving, fool!" She kicked him in the side again for good measure. "Now put on some clothes and meet me outside!"

"Put on some cloth-! Ah! Get out!"

Rukia left, smiling at the red in Renji's face, and waiting for her friend to join her in the yard before they both ascended to their usual place on top the barracks roof.

Renji huffed, "Alright, so do I finally get to know where we're going exactly? I've been waiting for Captain Kuchiki to tell me for nearly a month."

"Well it was definitely worth the wait," Rukia said. She explained her brothers plans and their destination, excitement bubbling over in her as she talked about the days ahead that the two had in store. Renji, on the other hand, looked skeptical.

"Hueco Mundo, eh? Never thought they'd send someone there on purpose."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Rukia that place is savage. It's nothing but desert and the only life there is monsters and dead trees. Why the hell would you want to go there?"

"It can't be all bad. What about the city and villages? I've heard there are plenty of settlements."

"Sure but the people there aren't like us. They live with hollows."

"Well it is the hollows birthplace. Their armies must be pretty busy all the time."

"No that's not what I mean. They actually live with hollows, like together and everything. The arrancar there are treated like people and I've even heard that the whole army is just a bunch of them stationed together."

Rukia was astonished, "But how is that possible? Hollows are monsters that eat souls they can't live with people!"

"That's what I thought but apparently their king has some sort of way to make them seem more human, or at least complacent enough so that they don't attack everyone. The hollows aren't even the worst of it, that place is always night and it's days away."

"But my brother was given this mission to make sure the treaty is signed. You've seen the reports Renji, we can't afford a war with them so it's best to get a treaty signed before something happens."

"I'm not afraid of a few hollows. Just because a couple arrancar signed up to act like soldiers doesn't mean their army can beat us."

"But you are coming, right?"

"I'm the Assistant Captain of Sixth Company, of course I'm going."

* * *

 

The journey took a total of three days, a long time for staying in a carriage that carried only four people. They took two, one for Byakuya and Hisana, the other for Renji and Rukia whom was thankful for not sharing a small space with her brother and sister for three days. In that time Rukia familiarized herself with the lore and politics of Hueco Mundo thanks to a couple books she borrowed from a friend in Thirteenth. She reviewed the trade and public information, the laws and history of Las Noches and surrounding cities.

As it turned out, Renji had been right. According to the books Hueco Mundo was indeed the homeland of hollows and arrancar, all of whom did live alongside the residents of Las Noches. It seemed impossible, monsters living with people, but pictures did not lie and the books had plenty of them. Ones showing arrancar assisting citizens and guarding the city, another accompanying the king and his own court, one photo even displayed a group of arrancar in various ages. Like a family.

Renji snored again, so Rukia threw a book at his head successfully waking him.

"Would you stop that?!" He yelled and rubbed the bruise on his forehead.

"Can't you just stay awake. We're nearly there and we have to make a good impression. Remember who we're representing."

"We still have at least an hour till we reach the main city. Just relax."

"You try relaxing in this dress," Rukia commented and attempted to lift her arms up. The _Jūnihitoe_ she wore gave her little room for comfort, the twelve layers of silk weighing her down a considerable amount, and keeping her slightly too warm for desert weather. She could stripe down a few layers but being so close to the capital as they were she decided it was best to grin and bare it. At least she could still read.

"Look at it out there," Renji said. He leaned against the window and watched the sand dunes go by. Rukia followed his gaze. Each dune looked the same, the night sky threw her sense of time, and every passing moment Rukia expected a hollow to attach the caravan. The few towns they had passed by were fair looking and not at all what Rukia had expected. The entire land was nothing she had expected.

"Rukia." She watched the endless moon, so still and bright.

"Rukia!" Renji smacked her on the arm to get her attention.

"What! What? Why did you hit me?"

"We're there."

"Already? We can't be it's still an hour away."

"Well there it is! I can see it from here."

"What?!" Rukia threw herself to the window to see what Renji saw, although it was slightly hard to miss.

"Las Noches."

Rukia's mind was playing tricks on her because there was no reason for her to be seeing the city yet. Yet there it was in front of her, the outer city line protected by walls so large she believed not even Judanbo would be able to lift them. The domed city stood against the night sky like a beacon, giant and formidable and everything that the Seireitei didn't appear to be. Renji pointed to the sticks poking out from the sand.

"See those? They're trees."

"What?"

"Yep."

"I can't believe it. I mean, in the books it says that the king built Las Noches with its own sun, but this is ridiculous. It must be twice the size of Seireitei."

"You can see some people outside, look."

Outside the dome a small market was set up, and by the looks of it that was the only entrance to the capital. As they got closer, the dome got bigger, and Rukia's sense of size warped. Stalls and marketeers milled about selling produce and items Rukia was unfamiliar with. The carriage continued until they passed through the great entrance, where they were stopped by, what Rukia assumed to be, capital guards.

"Renji..." she whispered.

"I see it."

The guard, a woman with long turquoise hair and facial markings, wore a white uniform that matched the whiteness of Las Noches. It was what was on the woman's head, however, that caught Rukia's attention. The skull of what seemed to be a goat rested on top the guards curls, the clearest indication of what the woman truly was. "Hollow."

"So it is true. Arrancar in the service of the king."

"How is that even possible? All the reports of arrancar say they act and look just like regular hollows, but these things seem just like people."

The two stared in awe as the carriages moved again, finally passing through into the city. Rukia had to cover her eyes from the glare of the sun, a sun that had not existed until seconds ago, as the view of Las Noches bloomed in front of her. The inside of the city was like stepping into another realm so different from the rest of Hueco Mundo, bright and full of life as citizens walked the busy streets, men and women shopping and children running. Small homes and market stalls and shops stretched over the horizon, white desert sand still covering the earth. A group of soldiers passed by, all of them hollows Rukia noted, and a small group of children ran past the carriage. One child caught Rukia's attention, a small piece of bone placed just above his eyes, and she quickly grabbed Renji's attention.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah I saw them. Hollows with families," Renji said with disgust. "Why would they allow this? Just because they look human doesn't mean they are!"

"Calm down, they may have their reasons. Arrancar live about as long as shinigami, maybe it's a military strategy or a way to keep them complacent."

"Well whatever it is, I don't like it."

The thought made Rukia just as uncomfortable, more hollows, even ones that looked like children, were not a good thing especially for a shinigami whose job it was to rid the world of them. The idea that they were allowed to... breed, in an environment surrounded by normal people was unthinkable not to mention dangerous. What would happen if they went wild and attacked? Who would be able to stop them from killing and eating everyone's souls?

"Makes you think about how strong their king must be," commented Renji.

"He must be to keep this many hollows in line." Another terrifying thought passed Rukia's mind.

There were rumors about Hueco Mundo's ruler, some said he single handedly built an empire in the desert, others that he was an ex-captain of the Court Guard, another saying he swayed the older hollows into following him. All far fetched and most likely false, but there must be some truth to the legend if an entire population of monsters were willing to follow a single man. A man with a fortress bigger than the Seireitei apparently, and a castle to boot.

The inside was bigger than Rukia had imagined and just as strangely beautiful as the rest of the dome city. The walls were tall and painted white, the flooring a dark black tiling and so clean that Rukia could see her own reflection perfectly. It seemed to be a common colour in the city, white. Everything from the staff uniforms to the furniture was the same colour as the moon outside the city. They were escorted to the throne room by a group of arrancar in white uniform, as well as the court man whom had greeted and welcomed to the capital. Rukia noticed how Renji kept a tight grip on his sword, the sheath tucked safely away in the belt of his kimono, and felt herself a bit less unprotected.

At a large set of double doors they stopped.

The courts man spoke, "Please wait while I inform His Majesty of your arrival." He disappeared through the doors, leaving the Kuchiki's and Renji behind.

"What do you think he's like?" Rukia whispered to her friend.

Renji leaned closer to her and whispered back, "No idea. I'm just really hoping he's not crazy. You never know in this place."

"I'm sure he's sane enough, he is the king of a country."

"Oh yeah he's completely sane, that's why he built a sky in the land of night." Byakuya's head turned slightly in front of them and the two youngers immediately silenced themselves. Both were well aware of Byakuya's cold temper, Renji having received it more times than he could count in his years as the Clan Head's Assistant Captain. In just moments the negotiations would begin, throwing the future of both Soul Society and Hueco Mundo to the table, and everything depended on whether or not the king signed a single piece of paper. Rukia, Renji and, to a lesser degree, Hisana were expected to behave like the respectful dignitaries they were. One slip up and the whole treaty may go down in flames and war declared.

A war the Soul Society could not afford to partake in.


	2. Chapter 2

The throne room was just as extravagant as the rest of the palace, which meant it was enormous and possessed little furnishing. The room could easily fit most of the Court Guard forces, members of Las Noches' court and council standing attentive to the sides of the room, and in the center of it all stood the throne to the king himself. On top a tall pedestal looking down on the new arrivals sat the King of Hueco Mundo, Sosuke Aizen.

Rukia had never seen the king in person before now. The pictures of him in the booklets she had did no justice, he was handsom and regal, with perfect brown hair that let a single curl fall in front of his face. Rukia saw no crown, but it was more than obvious that Aizen hardly needed one. He had the same air around him as the Head Captain, one that demanded authority and promised a painful end to those that disobeyed.

When he spoke, a shiver ran down Rukia's spine.

"Captain Kuchiki, and Lady Hisana, it is an honour to have you in our capital. I hope your trip was enjoyable."

Byakuya bowed in return and thanked the king, "We thank you for welcoming us into your home, your Majesty."

"Oh, please," King Aizen smiled warmly. "There is no need for formalities here. You all must be tired from the journey, I've had your rooms prepared feel free to relax for the night. We can begin negotiation in the morning." He turned to the hollow that had escorted them. "Show them to their rooms and have fresh meals sent straight away."

They thanked their host and left just as quick as they came. Before she left however, Rukia caught the king speaking to another man with silver hair, and then she was pulled from the throne by Renji. He stationed himself between her and the hollow escort, keeping a sharp eye on the creatures as they walked through the halls. Rukia continued to awe at the architecture of the palace until they reached her brother's room and said their good nights. Hisana would be sleeping in her own room, as would Rukia and Renji. The staff of the Kuchiki house they had brought along would be staying in their own quarters, although Rukia had no idea where that would be. Mostly she was just interested in seeing what more Las Noches had to offer outside the palace. Bidding her sister good night, Rukia and Renji followed the hollow down the hall further, passing a man wearing a white uniform similar to the others. The arrancar, with a bone plated half helm in his head, didn't acknowledge Rukia or Renji and continued down the hall opposite to them. Rukia glared at the things back before looked at their escort, the hollow keeping it's eyes to the side as if it had been avoiding the other hollow. She almost asked about it, but they had reached another room.

"Your room, my Lady."

Rukia nodded a thank you and walked into the room followed shortly by Renji. The hollow tried to stop him, saying that his room was further down, but Renji snapped at the hollow and told it that he was perfectly capable of finding a room and that his top priority was making sure "Lady Kuchiki" was safe. The hollow left, and Renji looked around Rukia's temporary home.

"Do you think they have any dyes other than white?"

Rukia snickered. Indeed all the furniture, curtains, and bedding were as starch white as the rest of the palace. An ongoing theme in Las Noches apparently.

"Makes it easy to clean, I suppose."

"Yeah..."

All of Rukia's baggage was already in the room, including her personal package that contained her zanpaku-to. Her brother would have most likely forbade her from bringing it if she had asked, so she didn't and instead sneaked it into her luggage. Making sure the hall was clear of company and the door locked, Rukia took the chance she had been waiting for and rummaged through the nearest suitcase.

"Finally getting out of that death trap?" Renji joked. "What I wouldn't do for my uniform right now, this desert heat is killing me and I'm only in five layers."

Rukia through him a change of clothes, "Shut up."

"What are these for?"

"We can't exactly walk around wearing expensive silk out in public, can we?"

"Public? Rukia what are-! Oh no! We are not going out there, we have the negotiations tomorrow."

"That's exactly why we should go now, or aren't you at least a bit curious about this place?"

"You mean the city of hollows? No thanks."

"We can get taiyaki."

Seeing Renji's face light up, Rukia gripped her clothes and ran to the bathroom to change. It took nearly an hour to undress herself from the twelve layers of cloth, but it was worth it. She took her hair out of the clip it had been held up with and washed her face from all makeup, taking out the earrings as well. In place of the _Jūnihitoe_ she wore simple pants, shirt, belt, and a sash around her head. The clothes were from a friend she knew from the Rukongai and had traded for six gold pieces. Outside the bathroom, Renji had also stripped of his formal wear and replaced it with garbs as simple as hers, only with a black bandanna fixed on his forehead and his hair in a ponytail.

"I feel like I'm back in Rukongai," he said. "Where did you get these?"

"Rukongai. Now come on, I have a sack of money I want to spend."

Walking to the window, Rukia unlocked the hinge and pushed open the glass.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Renji stopped her. "Won't someone see us?"

"Yes Renji because tiny shadows falling out of the sky are so recognizable. No one will see us if we just use shunpo, now come on!"

She dropped and landed in the sky half way to the ground. A few more jumps and she was safely on the ground, sand beneath her sandals and Renji landing at her side. They had landed just outside of the market area, luckily for the two shinigami there was no one around to notice. Quickly they joined in the crowds wandering the square, visiting each and every store they could while they had time. After what seemed like hours the shops began to close and lanterns were lite, the imitating sun vanishing from the sky and replaced with an exact copy of the eternal moon outside the dome city. People left for their homes, leaving Renji and Rukia to wander the dark streets and find what they could. Renji had already consumed as much taiyaki as he could eat before he got sick, and Rukia was enjoying a nice bag of salted soy beans. She was having fun.

"For a place dead center in the middle of hollow territory," Renji said, "It's not so bad. They've got good food and services, but I still have no clue where they get the resources from. Nothing here looks like it's imported and -!"

Rukia waited for him to finish his sentence.

"And what? Renji? Hey! Renji where are you going!?"

"I wanna know why there's a crowd!" Renji yelled to her as he ran off. Rukia gaped and stomped her foot, frustrated by her friends lack of focus, and then ran after him and squeezed her way through the crowd until she found him again. The men around her were loud and unpleasant and pushed her, and their yelling was unrelenting as they cheered on about something Rukia didn't know about.

"Hear tonight's gonna be a real blood bath."

"They say this new one is a real monster, beat Giralda into the dust a minute flat!"

"No fucking way that's true. Gotta be some new set up they got, bet the newbie gets killed in the first minute."

"Fighting Trepadora? I'll take that bet."

Shoving aside a stranger, Rukia finally found her companion amidst the front of the crowd, talking to a large man standing in front of a gate.

Renji was yelling at the man, "What do you mean sold out? It's barely twelve o'clock!"

"No tickets for outsiders or foreigners, house rules," was the man's reply.

"How the hell do you know if I'm a foreigner? Maybe I'm a citizen of this stinking country just like you, then will you sell me a ticket?"

"No tickets for foreigners."

"Are you freaking serious!?"

"RENJI!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, elbowing the red head in the chest for good measure.

"R-Rukia, what the hell?"

"I should be saying the same to you! You just left me there by myself and now you're starting an argument with a man you don't know! Explain yourself!" She smacked him again.

"I just wanted to get a ticket for tonight's fight."

"What fight? What are you talking about?"

"I overheard some guys talking about an underground fighting arena and I thought it might be interesting so I wanted to get some tickets, but this asshole-" Renji gabbed his thumb in the direction of the large man, "Won't sell any to me because we're not from this dumb city!"

Rukia almost smacked herself on the face. Was he being serious? He had ditched her to go watch a couple half naked men throw each other around? Rukia was about to tell Renji about acting like the adult man he was and quit complaining when a new voice interrupted the three.

"Excuse me. Is there a problem?"

The girl was fairly young, perhaps only sixteen Rukia thought, with long brown hair and big brown eyes. The girl, dressed in a simple white dress, approached the gate man with a smile on her face.

"Sorry miss," he said. "These two outsiders wanted into Menos Forest, I apologize if they troubled you."

The girl looked surprised, "Eh? Oh no, no. It's fine, really. If they want they can come in with me."

"You gotta ticket?"

"Yes," she showed the man a slip of paper and after reading the print he nearly fell over.

The man dropped into a low bow, "Begging your pardon, princess! I didn't realize it was you. Please go in if you wish!"

"Can my friends come with me?"

"Of course, madam!"

Quick as a rabbit, the girl looped her arms around Rukia and Renji, and pulled them through the gate towards a stair case. The girl smiled and laughed as she released Rukia's arm, turning to the noble woman with glee.

"Oh that was fun! The guard was all like," she made a face Rukia couldn't comprehend, "and you were all "we wanna see the street performers! Humph!" but he was so scared and then we got in! Bwahahaha!"

Aside from being completely confused, Rukia was still wondering how this girl got the guard to let them in, or why a child was visiting an (Rukia assumed) illegal underground fight by herself. The brunette continued to babble and walk down the stairs, along with Renji and Rukia for some odd reason. There was no where else to go, so the situation was forcing them to follow this strange girl down and down.

"Excuse me," Rukia stopped the girls babbling, "but who are you? You are a citizen of Las Noches, but the man said 'princess' and called you madam so you have to be an upper class girl."

The girl stopped mid step and gasped, "Oh you're right! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm so sorry that was very rude of me! My name is Inoue Orihime, it is very nice to meet you."

Despite herself, Rukia smiled back at Inoue.

"It is very nice to meet you too."

"Yeah, yeah it's nice to meet you but you didn't answer the question kid," said Renji. "How did you get that jackass at the gate to let us in, even though we're not from here?"

Inoue made a nervous laugh, "Oh I just have a way with people I guess. Noting to worry about!"

"He called you princess. What's that, your noble title?"

The solemn look that appeared on Inoue's face caused Rukia to elbow her friend once more.

"Don't be rude," she hissed at him.

"No, no," Inoue said waving her hands, "It's fine. It's just not something I ever really talk about, but I suppose it's true. It's not a noble title since there aren't any noble families, mostly it's just referring to my connections to the king. I don't really hold any power."

That caught Rukia's attention. She tried to remember what she had read on Hueco Mundo's monarchy and tried to place Inoue's face in the many name she had read. Finally it clicked.

"You're King Aizen's ward."

Inoue nodded.

"But that means you're the literal princess of this country, the only living successor to an absolute monarchy! You should have enormous power."

"Nope. I'm mostly in charge of the living conditions for the citizens and making sure the people stays happy. I don't have any military power or a council seat, and none of the officials ever listen to me. It's mostly an empty title, even if it does give me some sway with the people."

Rukia didn't really understand. Even if she held no official power Inoue was still the princess, the one person who would possible succeed the king one day. Technically speaking she should be the second most powerful person in Hueco Mundo. Had they had more time Rukia would have questioned the princess more, but they had reached the end of the stair case and entered an open space. Like an underground coliseum there were rows of seats all falling down towards an open sand arena. The stands were filled with people all cheering as two gladiators fought each other.

"There should be a couple of seats near the front," Inoue pointed. "Please enjoy yourselves, Miss Kuchiki, Mr. Abarai."

"You know who we are?"

"Of course! I have to make a point of knowing all the important people and visitors to the capital, plus the Kuchiki family is the only noble visitors we've had in years so you're the talk of the city! Please don't worry though, you're secrets safe with me so enjoy the event!"

A quick bow and Inoue was lost in the crowd and out of Rukia's sight. The noble woman's head was still spinning from Inoue, Princess Inoue she supposed, had said. Even as Renji pulled her into the seats she was still thinking about how Inoue kept her identity a secret. Not once did Inoue call Rukia "Lady" or "Ma'am" despite being aware of Rukia's noble position. It was... nice.

"AND THAT'S THE END OF OUR FINAL ROUND!" The announcers voice boomed throughout the arena. "CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CHALLENGER WHO WILL BE MOVING ON TO THE FINAL BATTLE AGAINST OUR CHAMPION!"

The crowds went wild, cheering and yelling and placing bets all around Rukia. In the few minutes before the fight she had had to stop Renji from placing an outrageous bet, getting in several fights himself, and almost falling off the edge of their seat and into the arena. Again Rukia's ears rang as the announcer's voice shouted,

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN PLEASE WELCOME OUR REINING CHAMPION AND PRIVARON ESPADA, TREPADORA!"

The cheering was so deafening that Rukia was forced to cover her ears, Renji going wild along with the rest of the spectators. Down in the sand a young man (or at least Rukia thought he was a man the makeup through her off a tad) swaggered to the center of the arena in a long sleeved white outfit, a sword attached to his side just under his arm. Thanks to the seats Inoue had shown them, Rukia was able to see every detail of the combatant. His hair was curled at the ends and three star-like marks dotted his forehead. On the side of his head was a bone jaw shaped like a barrette.

"So it is just a hollow fight," Rukia muttered to herself.

"AND HIS CHALLENGER, THE UP AND COMING BEAST OF THE RING, THE BLACK SUN WHO VANQUISHED THE DEADLY GIRALDA, PLEASE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE AND A SMALL PRAYER FOR ZANGETSU!"

Again, more screaming.

But this time Renji wasn't yelling along with everyone. This time he was staring, just like Rukia, at the arena's newest arrival. Zangetsu was a child, a boy younger than Renji, in black clothes and a large sword on his back. Zangetsu's hair was oddly orange, something not uncommon but definitely strange, but what caught the full attention of both shinigami was that there was something familiar about Zangetsu. Just a feeling they got from him, something they felt whenever they were walked the streets of Seireitei. The spiritual pressure of a shinigami.

Renji whispered to Rukia, "You feel it too?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't be possible. There aren't any shinigami in Hueco Mundo that the Court Guard doesn't know about."

"Well I've never heard of any 'Zangetsu's' running around Soul Society. We should talk to him."

"We will later, unless you want to jump in and fight both of them at the same time."

"Don't see the big threat anyway, arrancar are barely third seat level."

She agreed with him, but Rukia's attention was on the 'shinigami' boy. Trepadora looked less than impressed and sneered at the carrot top.

"This is the guy I'm fighting? A little kid?" the arrancar laughed. "Aw, tell me little boy does your mommy know you're out past your bed time?"

Zangetsu didn't say anything, he just scowled at the other. Trepadora found that annoying apparently and vanished, reappearing behind Zangetsu.

"You cocky little brat," Trepadora struck his hand at Zangetsu, aiming to backhand the boys head and send him flying, but Zangetsu dodged the strike and landed at the other end of the arena.

"Is that the best you got?" the teenager mocked.

"Oh I bet you would love that, too bad for you I'm already bored. So lets just give the people what they want and stand still. I don't want to get blood on my clothes."

The arrancar unsheathed his sword and said, "Strangle, Trepadora."

A fog erupted from Trepadora, and the crowds cheered. Rukia saw Zangetsu mutter something as he waited for whatever came next. The fog cleared and Rukia almost fell out of her seat. Trepadora had changed drastically, bone covering his torso and looping around to his back where a pin wheel of eight tentacles. The bone barrette on his head had grown into a crown-like head piece.

"Ready to die, brat?"

Zangetsu scanned the crowd like he was looking for someone. He starred off for a moment, then reached for the sword on his back, "Whenever you are."

In a heartbeat, one of the tentacles attacked Zangetsu who blocked it with his sword. Zangetsu was pushed back but unharmed and threw the tentacle to the side, vanishing in a burst of shunpo. Rukia could barely follow the boys speed, seeing only the after images as he ran around the arena avoiding Trepadora's attacks. The arrancar spun around and around, whipping it's extra arms in a deadly tornado in a desperate attempt to hit the boy.

"Are you even trying to kill me?" Trepadora yelled at Zangetsu. "Didn't you sign up for this? Where's the little monster who beat Giralda to a pulp?"

One of the tentacles hit, and Zangetsu was thrown into the wall. He looked unharmed despite the cracks in the cement. Trepadora sent another attack at the boy.

"Come one, come one I'm getting bored here!"

Rukia felt the hollow energy leaking from the arrancar, far more than she had been expecting. This hollow somehow had the spirit energy level of a third seat, maybe even a lieutenant, something that should have been impossible. Arrancar just didn't get this strong, not unless the Court Guard's information was off. _Unlikely_ , Rukia thought. The Court Guard made it a point to know what kind of hollows they were up against.

Zangetsu took several more hits, each one earning a thundering applause and screams for blood, until Trepadora finally decided he had had enough. Catching the boy in one of his tentacles and squeezing, Zangetsu yelled in pain while the arrancar laughed.

"This is pathetic, I thought shinigami were supposed to be tougher than this what a let down," another squeeze and Zangetsu coughed up blood.

"Huh, what was that? I didn't hear you, brat shinigami."

"I said," Zangetsu freed one arm from the vice grip and aimed at Trepadora, "Hado 63, Raikôhô!"

Rukia felt the static before the spell manifested itself from the palm of Zangetsu's hand. Her hair was blown back from the power, an enormous blast of lightning blasting in rounds at Trepadora. The arrancar was thrown to the wall with a bone shattering _**CRACK**_ and dust filled the coliseum, blocking the fight from view. Rukia coughed the dust from her lungs and waved it away to see what happened next more interested in seeing what this mystery shinigami could do. She heard sword clashes and saw sparks flash but nothing more until a sudden blast of wind blew the air back and the crowd was silent. Rukia rubbed her eyes and stared.

Trepadora, laying bloody in the sand, coughed up blood.

"Ha, figures it'd be like that. Shitty half-breed."

Zangetsu shouldered his blade, a giant cleaver-shaped thing with no sheath or guard, and walked away from the dying hollow. Some of the crowd boo'd, hungry for more blood, but Zangetsu seemed to ignore it and exited the arena. Trepadora's body was taken away and the announcer's voiced boomed throughout the coliseum,

"A THRILLING END TO A PERFECT BLOOD BATH! PLEASE GATHER YOUR WINNINGS AT THE STALLS AND EXIT THE ARENA!"

"Come one," Renji said. Rukia followed her friend through the crowds of people, keeping her eye out for the one person they wanted to speak with.

Near the back of coliseum Rukia spotted her, "There," she pointed. In a couple short and calculated steps of shunpo both Rukia and Renji were on the other side of the arena just behind Inoue. The girl hadn't noticed them, too busy collecting left over dishes from a private seat, and jumped when Renji yelled, "HEY! INOUE WE HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU!"

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Inoue dropped the small tray she had been holding and nearly fell over in terror.

"O-Oh! Miss Kuchiki, Mr. Abarai! I-I'm so sorry I didn't see you, how long were you standing there?"

"Please relax princess," Rukia tried to calm the girl. She gave Renji a quick glare for startling the poor girl, then turned back to Inoue. "We're sorry for startling you but we have some questions we want to ask you about the last battle."

Inoue gasped, "You didn't lose your family fortune did you!? Oh no Miss Kuchiki I'm so sorry! Are you poor now!?"

"What? No that's not it at all. We just wanted to ask about Zangetsu. Is he really a shinigami?"

"Oh..." Inoue's face fell and she looked around them. "Please follow me. We can speak in private."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually shorter than I wanted it to be but I thought it would be a fun place to leave off. I finally got Orihime into the story and I hope I did a good job of writing her. I had Luppi be the one who got canned mostly because I don't like him and he has no relevance to the plot, canon or fiction.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

The princess lead them to the back quarters of the coliseum. The room was comfortable and roomy, decorated simply with a few couches and chairs. At a door to the back Rukia could hear voices, loud ones.

"Okay," Inoue said. "We should be fine here. What did you want to ask about?"

Renji jumped at the answer, "We want to know who that orange kid was, and why there's an unregistered shinigami in Hueco Mundo."

"You mean Ku- uh, Zangetsu? I don't know him at all really, he just comes in every now and then to fight and then he leaves."

"You must know something," Rukia insisted. "If he regularly comes here than someone here has to know him. Who runs the arena?"

Inoue looked very nervous, "N-No one, it's a public event set up through, uh, the city. It's m-mostly just volunteers so I have no idea who would know."

"Well what about other competitors?"

"Um..."

"Who's in that room?"

"What room?"

Growing more annoyed the less Inoue answered her, Rukia stormed past the girl, ignoring Inoue's plea to not open the door, and threw open the back door. Down a small flight of stairs and Rukia was in an open room occupied by several people, all arrancar to her surprise, arguing with each other or sitting around. Two arrancar, a man with blue hair and half a jaw bone on his cheek and another much, much taller with bone on his lower jaw, were arguing at the top of their voices. The blue arrancar looked like he was ready to attack the other, his hollow spiritual pressure nearly crushing Rukia, when his attention turned to Rukia.

"Oi! Princesa!" The arrancar yelled at the girl (Rukia hadn't even noticed her and Renji come down the stairs). Rukia noticed that the middle of his stomach was missing, replaced with a large hollow hole.

Inoue greeted the arrancar nervously, "Hello, Grimmjow. How are you?"

"How am I!? What the hell was that last shit? Why the hell didn't I get that fight!?"

"Y-you know the rules, Grimmjow. Espada can't compete in the public tournaments, and you didn't win your last fight so -"

"Screw that! I wanna know why the fuck some shitty _privaron_ got to fight that stupid shinigami brat?"

"Grimmjow-"

"Why the hell was he even in that fight, he's not an arrancar!"

"Uh-"

"Grimmjow."

Both the arrancar and Inoue froze, as did Renji and Rukia, as another arrancar approached them. This one was shorter than 'Grimmjow' but taller than Inoue, with short black hair and sharp green eyes. On the side of his head was a bone plated helm with a single horn jutting from the side, the center of this hollow's collarbone missing as a hole.

"It is time for us all to leave," the arrancar stated.

Grimmjow sneered at the new hollow, "Ulquiorra."

"We are required elsewhere. Do not waste the woman's time with stupid questions."

"Don't tell me what to do, jackass."

He looked back at Inoue, "This ain't over, _princesa_."

The two arrancar, along with several more from the room, exited and left Inoue alone with Rukia and Renji.

"I'm sorry about that," Inoue apologized. "They're not usually here and Grimmjow isn't usually that mean looking. He's really just a big cat."

Brushing the odd scene she had just witnessed, Rukia asked, "Never mind. What is this room for?"

"It's just a resting area for the competitors. There are some rooms in the back for them to rest in after fights but they're probably empty right now."

"So you wouldn't mind if we checked them out then," Renji strode past the princess. Inoue tried to stop him to no avail, Rukia joining her friend as he busted down doors.

"Hey! Anyone in there!?"

"Please stop! There might be someone sleeping in there!"

The did not stop Renji from throwing open another door, "Hey in there! You awake? Seen any orange haired shinigami around?"

"Hey! Shut your stupid face up!" A high pitched voice screamed back. A chair was thrown at Renji, connecting right on his forehead and causing Rukia stepped back should he fall on her. "The hell kind of way is that to wake up someone!? What is wrong with you freaks!?"

Rukia helped her friend up as the rooms occupant, a young (somewhat inappropriately dressed) hollow girl. A bone helmet on her blond head covered her left eye and a hole in the middle of her torso. Behind her was another occupant, a man with curly brown hair and a bone necklace around his neck. The man looked half asleep and was rubbing his neck.

"What's with all the screaming? I'm trying to sleep here."

"Don't look at me!" the girl yelled. "It was this freaky shinigami!" She pointed at Renji.

Making sure that Renji would stay silent, Rukia spoke up to the pair of hollows, "We were only looking for someone. We're sorry if we disturbed you."

The arrancar man looked at Rukia dully, like he was unimpressed by her in every possible way, then turned to Inoue.

"What time is it?"

"Half past midnight, uh, sir."

"Alright, better go then. You should get going too, Hime."

Inoue's face turned pink, "I- I will. I just need to find something first."

The man didn't look convinced and grabbed the shoulder of the young girl, saying "He's at the end of the hall" before vanishing with a buzzing sound. Rukia released her breath, breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, as she felt the hollow leave. Something about that man made her uneasy, like how she felt around her brother when he got mad, a subtle dangerous air around him. Renji could sense it as well, he had a vice-like grip on Rukia's shoulder, and Inoue looked like she may fall over.

Rukia sighed and pulled off Renji's hand off of her. She all but stormed down to the last door in the hall and threw it open, marching into the dark room and up to the figure in the bed; Inoue and Renji right behind her.

"Please," Inoue whispered. "Come back in the morning after he's rested. It's late and we really should go back to the palace before-"

"No," Rukia said sternly. She looked at the sleeping boy in the bed and raised her hand. Bringing down a swift chop onto the top of the the boys head, Rukia felt herself being thrown to floor by a sudden tackle from Inoue. Just in time as a strong fist punched the air where Rukia's head had been. Zangetsu sat right up and looked around him wildly as if expecting an attack, then his gaze landed on Inoue and Rukia.

"Uh..."

Inoue was immediately on her feet, her face red from embarrassment.

"I'm very sorry we woke you! We'll leave immediately! Please go back to sleep Ich-! Zangetsu."

Zangetsu looked just as flustered at the girl, "N-no. It's fine."

He threw his feet over the side of the bed and looked back and forth between Rukia and Renji.

"Who are these guys?"

"No one! Just some people who watched the fight, no need to worry we'll go now!"

"You're a bad liar, Inoue. Seriously who are they?"

Rukia would have snapped an answer at Zangetsu in a heart beat, finding this boy extremely rude and not at all impressed by Inoue's weak excuses, but she found herself unable to speak. She only stared at Zangetsu's face, a face she was familiar with, a face that was eerily like her Assistant Captain.

"I'm Sixth Company's Assistant Captain Renji Abarai," Renji said. "This is Lady Rukia Kuchiki, sister to Captain of Sixth Company and Head of the Kuchiki clan Byakuya Kuchiki. We're here from the Soul Society on political business. Who exactly are you supposed to be?"

Zangetsu twitched, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're a shinigami I don't recognize hiding out in Hueco Mundo and using a stage name. What Company do you belong to?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not from a Company."

"Then you're a rouge."

"I'm not anything! Why does it matter to you so much?"

"Because it's my job to arrest rouges so unless you've got an explanation for why your captain doesn't know you're here then I'll drag you back to Seireitei."

Zangetsu stood from the bed and glared at Renji, "I'd like to see you try."

Inoue was suddenly between the two boys with one hand on Zangetsu's arm, "Zangetsu you really should be resting. I haven't had a chance to heal your injuries."

"Don't worry I'm fine. Luppi wasn't that tough."

"Still..."

Rukia finally spoke, "Who is Luppi?"

"He was the arrancar I fought."

"I thought his name was Trepadora?"

"That's just the name he used. It's better to use a stage name than your real name when you're, you know, fighting to the death."

"So what's your name?"

"Pardon?"

"Your real name," Rukia said. "What is it, because it can't really be 'Zangetsu'."

"Why should I tell you? I don't know you."

"We told you our names, it's only fair you tell us yours!"

'Zangetsu' was about to yell at the short woman, but Inoue interrupted.

"I'm sorry Miss Rukia but we really do have to go now. It's gotten very late and someone might notice that we're not in our rooms."

That peaked Rukia's attention, "What time is it?"

"Nearly two in the morning."

"WHAT!?" Renji and Rukia yelled together. Rukia was out the door in a flash, Renji following her with a quick "We'll talk later!" to Zangetsu and Inoue. They ran as fast as they could, Rukia pushing her shunpo to the point where she had to hold onto Renji to keep up, until they were back in Rukia's guest room. Renji gave her a quick good night before slipping out and to his own room while Rukia sighed and fell to the bed, exhausted.

* * *

"Rukia get up!"

A loud thumping startled Rukia awake. She bolted out of the bed, throwing on her house robe over her, and nearly tripped over her own feet answering the door.

"R-Renji?! What are you doing? What time is it?"

"Hurry up and get dressed. Captain Kuchiki and Lady Hisana are waiting for us to meet them so the treaty ceremony can start!"

"What!?" She slammed the door in Renji's face and raced around her room brushing her hair and teeth, pinning up her hair, doing her makeup, and slipping back into the twelve layer _j_ _ūnihitoe_. She grabbed her shoes and ran out the door, pulling Renji along with her, and the two shunpo'd through the halls until they met with the older Kuchiki's. Byakuya was wearing his shinigami shihakusho and captain's haori, Renji matching in his own assistant captains badge, and Hisana wearing a _j_ _ūnihitoe,_ similar to Rukia's, holding a fan in her hand.

With the Kuchiki couple was King Aizen, dressed in clean white robes. With him was a small entourage of people, Inoue and one of the arrancar Rukia had met last night, along with two men Rukia was unfamiliar with.

Rukia and Renji bowed at the clan head, "We apologies for being late!"

"You should have been ready," Byakuya told them coldly. "It is incredibly rude to keep the court, us, and the king waiting."

King Aizen smiled politely, "It's alright. They're here, that's all that matters. Now we can sign the treaty and confirm the agreements. If you would all please follow me."

The group proceeded to a large open room, Inoue and the arrancar leaving at the door while the others followed King Aizen and his further in. There was a table set up in the middle of the room with two chairs, one for the king and the other supposedly for Byakuya, and a servant arrancar brought some pens and ink.

King Aizen motioned Byakuya to the chair, "Shall we begin, Captain Kuchiki?"

"Before we begin I believe you are aware of the terms settled before the treaty can be signed?"

"Of course. Your Head Captain and I agreed that before I and a representative signed I was to present my zanpaku-to's ability, like I did when I met with the Court Guard. However I believe it was also agreed that you too, would give a small show of your own abilities, Captain."

Byakuya nodded and the two drew their swords.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The blade in Byakuya's hand broke apart into hundreds of flower petals, each of which Rukia knew had the power to tear into the skin of a shinigami with ease. The petals swirled around the room once before returning to Byakuya's hand, his zanpaku-to becoming whole once more.

"A truly beautiful power," King Aizen admired. He looked disappointingly at his own sword, "I'm afraid my own power isn't quite as impressive."

King Aizen held his sword upside down in front of him, "Shatter, Kyôka Suigetsu."

Immediately fog filled the room, blocking everything from Rukia's sight, and then vanished as King Aizen sheathed his sword.

"My Kyôka Suigetsu is a ryûsui zanpaku-to. It's not as visually pleasing as your's Captain, and uses diffused reflections of fog and water to confuse my enemies. Perhaps not the strongest ability, definitely not on par with your Head Captain's, but it can be very useful when dealing with multiple threats. Now that we have that out of the way, shall we sign the treaty?"

Nodding, Byakuya joined the king at the table and two long hours passed before Rukia found herself able to sit without having to worry about her posture. All the court had retreated to their own quarters, Inoue giving Rukia a passing smiled before the princess was escorted away, Rukia and Renji returning to Rukia's guest room for a short meal. Leaving the last layer of her kimono on, being too tired to care if she got crumbs on it, Rukia fell onto her bed in exhaustion.

"That took a lot longer than I thought," she said out loud.

Renji, from his seat at the small table in the room, agreed with her, "Not even Court Guard meetings last that long. I thought that would go on forever."

"I guess King Aizen likes to pay attention to detail. Brother almost looked as bored as we felt, I can't even imagine what my sister was feeling. She's not used to political meetings like that."

"I've seen Captain Kuchiki sit through one of Head Captain's tea lectures, this was way worse."

A knock at the door threw Rukia off the bed and Renji out of his seat. Immediately Rukia ran to her trunk and pulled out a cover robe to hide herself while Renji waited to open the door. Once the robe was on properly she nodded to her friend, and Renji opened the bedroom door. Out side was one of the men Rukia had seen accompanying King Aizen, he was tall with shaggy white hair and closed eyes, along with a thin smile Rukia did not care for. She wasn't familiar with his status in Las Noches, mostly she assumed he was a personal guard of sorts, but the texts she had read had given her his name at least; Gin Ichimaru.

The fox faced man waved at Rukia and Renji, "Ah! Miss Rukia, a pleasure ta finally meet ya!"

Weary of the stranger, Rukia only nodded in response.

"I just wanted ta come by an tell ya that on behalf of the king there's gonna be a big party ta'night in celebration of the treaty. I even heard yer brother's got somethin' special planned! Hope ya brought yer dancin' shoes. Everyone is gonna be expectin' ya and yer boyfriend here-" "I'm not-!" "- so be ready for 'round nine. Someone'll be by ta pick the two of ya up."

"Yes, thank you for telling us. It would be an honour."

"Ya bet it is. See ya ta'night!"

The moment Ichimaru was out of her sight, Rukia slammed the door closed and fell to the floor.

"Rukia!" Renji panicked.

It had taken all of her willpower to not fall over in front of the snake, because that's exactly what it felt like being near him. Ichimaru's spiritual pressure had felt like it was circling her, just waiting to crush her, "Did... Did you feel that?"

Renji nodded, sweat on his neck, "Yeah, and people wonder why the Court doesn't trust these people. With a guy like Ichimaru around you couldn't tell what side he's on."

"Is it wrong that I really hope he isn't at the party tonight?"

"You're actually going to that? It's just going to be a bunch of hollows."

"If my brother and sister are going than so are we. Besides the king invited us and it would be wise of us not to turn down the invitation. Also if Inoue is there I want to talk to her."

"Hmm. Think they'll let me bring my zanpaku-to?"

"You are an Assistant Captain, I'm sure they'll understand."

Renji groaned, "Man, can't we just have one night to sleep and do nothing?"

"If you wanted that then you should have stayed in Seireitei. Now go get dressed, it's already seven."

* * *

The party was extravagant and lively, King Aizen apparently having opened the palace doors to the general public, and there was plenty of good food and drink to go around. Rukia wore a light purple _tsukesage_ with blooming lotus' stitched around the bottom half, her hair pinned up in a simple bun that left her bangs alone. The dress was similar to her sisters in keeping with the blossom pattern, although in her opinion Hisana wore the attire much, much better than she ever could. Her brother wore his captain's haori but over a dark blue kimono. Renji had dressed similarly, his only personal accessory being his assistant captains badge and sword.

Rukia watched in antipathy as Renji devoured one plate after another.

"Haven't you had enough?"

"Rukia! You have to try this beef, it's amazing!"

"That's your fifth helping..."

"Also this sweet paste stuff! You can put it on anything!" Renji practically shoved the toasted bread into Rukia's face. She swatted at him and grabbed the toast, looking at the odd paste-like spread that covered it. She took a bite and smiled.

"It is delicious."

"Right!? Try some of this too!"

"Renji I don't want anymore food. We had plenty at the banquet before this."

"Come one Rukia, relax. Tomorrow we're going back to Soul Society, so now's the perfect time to let loose a bit," Renji said handing her a drink.

Normally she would decline the alcohol, but she felt like Renji was right. It was their last day in Las Noches before returning home and she had been on her best behaviour for the past three days. So she took a swig of the drink.

"I hope that's your one and only."

Rukia almost choked on her drink before she spun around to see her sister standing behind her. Hisana had a small smile on her face and a hint of red in her cheeks.

"S-Sister! I didn't see you, I'm sorry!" she shoved the drink into Renji's hands.

"Oh no Rukia it's fine! You're an adult after all, you don't have to worry about having a drink once in a while."

Renji handed the drink back to Rukia.

"I hope you're both enjoying yourselves," Hisana smiled. "It's rare for us all to be together like this."

"Is brother enjoying himself?"

"Oh you know Byakuya. I can hardly tell myself sometimes but it doesn't look like he's having a terrible time."

Hisana and Rukia glanced at Byakuya, who was standing alone in the crowd holding a cup. Hisana giggled as her husband tried to subtly move away from a too close arrancar. They laughed quietly to themselves and enjoyed the rest of the night before returning to their respective rooms. Rukia, despite herself, had really enjoyed the party. The food had been excellent, the music entertaining, and this time tomorrow she would be on her way home. King Aizen had been far more welcoming than she had envisioned for a man constantly surrounded by hollows, and Inoue, although Rukia hadn't seen her at the party, was a friendly girl in Rukia's eyes. The only thing Rukia had found truly off putting was Ichimaru, the man practically screamed untrustworthy and Rukia had half a mind to report him to the Head Captain as a potential threat. One more thing she wished they had more time for was to see that Zangetsu boy again. She just knew that it would drive Renji crazy not knowing who the rouge shinigami was, and she expected he would be filing a report immediately once they were back in Seireitei. To be honest she was just as interested. The only _known_ shinigami in Las Noches were the king and his two generals, Ichimaru and Tosen, so finding Zangetsu was cause for both curiosity and alarm. The Court Guard would most definitely want to know about this, as would King Aizen given that there was an unknown shinigami hiding in his backyard. Hopefully they would be able to find out just who Zangetsu was and what company he belonged to and why he was in Las Noches in the first place.

Putting all thoughts aside Rukia climbed into the bed and smiled, unable to wait to return home.

Of course, she would have to wait longer than she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. I can't believe Bleach is over after 15 amazing years. Thank you Tite Kubo and your fantastic work, I will miss your stories and characters with all my heart. Thank you for giving us a beautiful and peaceful ending and introducing us to Ichika and Kazui, my newest and most precious babies. Bleach has been a big part of my life for nearly eight years and I hope that it will never stop being a big part of my life.  
> Thank you all for reading and please enjoy, there is more to this story to come!


	4. Chapter 4

Rukia awoke to the whispers of Renji. Throwing the wonder of how and why her friend was in her room at such a time, Rukia assumed the worst.

"R-Renji? What are you doing in here?"

"We need to leave. Now! Get your sword and let's go!"

"What are you talking about? Renji!"

"Shush! Just trust me!"

Hearing the panic in her friends voice rushed Rukia as she quickly changed and grabbed Sode no Shirayuki. Together she and Renji ran out of the room, using shunpo to avoid being spotted by any passing servants. Rukia trusted Renji, she really did, but waking her up at whatever ungodly hour it was was putting a small strain on their friendship. She followed him around more corners until becoming fed up with the secrecy.

"Renji, stop!" she hissed and pulled away from him.

"Stay quiet," he whispered back.

"Not until you tell me what is happening! Why are we sneaking around in the middle of the night!?"

Renji threw his hand over her mouth, "Stop being so loud or they'll hear us!"

Rukia mumbled something incoherent.

"What? OW!"

Renji pulled his bitten hand away and Rukia heaved a long breath.

"I said I couldn't breath! And who are _they_?"

Keeping his hand back from Rukia, Renji sighed.

"Captain Kuchiki and Lady Hisana have been arrested."

Rukia felt her heart stop, "W-What?"

"A few minutes ago Captain Kuchiki instructed me to take you back to Soul Society and inform the Court Guard that the treaty has been broken."

"What do you mean broken? What happened?"

"I don't know the details, only that the captain is being charged with breaking a part of the treaty and that he and Lady Hisana were taken away."

"Then we have to save them, Renji I know that my brother wouldn't never break an oath it must be a misunderstanding. Maybe if we talk to the king-"

"Not going to happen. Captain Kuchiki gave me orders to get you out of Las Noches, so that's what I'm going to do."

Rukia wanted to argue, she wanted to say that her brother and sister did not deserve to be left behind, but Renji's serious look made her comply. He could be a fool sometimes, even childish, but Renji was an assistant captain for a good reason. He took his duty seriously and wasn't one to joke when it was inappropriate, so seeing him like this was more than enough to cause Rukia alarm.

"How are we supposed to get out of here then?" she whispered.

"... I don't know. Every time I think I know where I'm going we end up back where we started."

Rukia looked around her and sure enough she could see her room door from her spot at the corner. _That can't_ _be right_ , she thought. They had used shunpo nearly a dozen times going through the halls, they should have been far away from the rooms now.

"Renji, forget the halls, we can escape through the window like last night."

"You don't think they'll see us?"

"Even if someone does we can lose them in the city. Hurry."

The two raced back to Rukia's room and retraced their steps from the night before, softly landing on the white sand below. Rukia released the breath she had been holding and fell to the ground, exhausted. Renji followed along with her, putting his head between his knees and keeping quiet.

"So," Rukia started, "how are we going to get out of Las Noches?"

"I figured we just walk through the front door. We can open a senkaimon and just get out through there."

"That won't work."

Rukia and Renji jumped at the voice, Renji grabbing his sword and Rukia starting a kido when they both stopped and stared at the new comer. Standing in front of them with a hood over her head was the princess Orihime Inoue. She looked sadly at Rukia and spoke again.

"There's a barrier in Las Noches that makes it impossible to open any kind of portal."

"How the hell do you know that?" Renji towered over the princess.

"I... I can't say but I know you want to get out of Las Noches and I can help you."

"Why should we trust you, you're the kings ward for all we know you'll just lead us into a trap!"

Inoue looked hurt, "Please, I swear that I'm not trying to trick you. I don't want you or Miss Rukia to get hurt so please, if you want to leave Las Noches then come with me."

Renji was going to yell more, but Rukia interrupted.

"Why are you helping us? Why would you risk treason against your own country and king."

"Aizen is not my king."

Both shinigami stood still, and Inoue continued.

"I am not a shinigami or a hollow, I'm a human girl. I don't belong to Hueco Mundo and Aizen is not my king. I'm not very strong and we barely know each other, but I know that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew that you got hurt when I could have done something."

Whether Inoue was lying or not, Rukia wasn't willing to chance being seen out in the open any longer.

"Alright," she told Inoue. "We'll follow you for now."

The princess nodded and pulled the hood over her head, "This way."

She lead them through the streets, keeping in the crowds and shying away from passing guards. Rukia and Renji had grabbed a couple of cloaks from a stall, following Inoue's example and keeping their heads down. A few minutes of walking on glass and they were back at the gate Rukia had first met Inoue at. Inoue opened the gate and they all slipped in and down the familiar stairs until reaching the arena once again. It was strange to see the coliseum so empty and quiet, Rukia's own steps echoing throughout the room.

"I don't understand, why are we back here?"

They followed Inoue to the back area.

"We can't go through the front gate," Inoue rummaged through the cupboards gathering random supplies, "so we have to go underground. There are a lot of old tunnels that lead out of Las Noches that the guards don't know about. We can use those to get out of the city."

"How many tunnels are there?" Renji asked.

Inoue threw more food stuffs into a sack, "I really don't know, but that's why we have Ichigo. Ichigo! Iiichigooo!"

The princess cupped her hands and yelled down the hall.

"What!?" a gruff voice answered.

"Get up! We're leaving now!"

"WHAT!?" Zangetsu came tumbling down the hall, nearly tripping over his own foot, and yelled again at Inoue, "What do you mean we're leaving? When was this a plan!?"

"Go get your stuff!"

"W-Wait Inoue! Explain to me what's going on first!"

"Hey! You!" Renji yelled at the boy.

Zangetsu turned to the duo in shock, as if he hadn't even noticed them standing there.

"What the-! What are you doing here?!"

"Trying to leave!"

"Ichigo please! We have to leave now!" Inoue called. The teen looked back and forth between Inoue and the shinigami, then ran back down the hall.

Renji was just about fed up with the girls antics when Zangetsu came back with a small bag and a sword. Inoue passed him the bag of food and ran down the hall, Zangetsu leaning against the counter and waiting.

"Hey!" Renji yelled at the boy.

Zangetsu, a scowl on his face, said, "Oh, hey. Do you know what Inoue's talking about?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, you mean you don't know what's going on you're supposed to be the one getting us out of this crappy city didn't the princess tell you anything about what's happening right now do you even know that we're wanted criminals because your stupid king arrested my captain and because of him Rukia and I can't get out of this gods forsaken city by senkaimon so we have to use those tunnels Inoue told us about so how can you ask us what's happening when you're the one who's supposed to getting out of here!?"

Renji was so close that Zangetsu had to lean back to avoid their noses touching. His eye twitched and he started at Renji like the man was insane. After registering what Renji had said, Rukia couldn't blame him.

"Dude are you okay? I could barely understand you for a moment."

Renji blew a fuse and fell over, at which time Rukia took over explaining their situation.

Zangetsu stared at her and nodded, "Right then. Inoue's right you can't get out through the gate so the tunnels are your best bet."

"Can you really guide us?"

"Sure I can, but it won't be easy. I know for a fact that Aizen knows about the tunnels so it'll be tricky to sneak through but not impossible."

"How long will it take to get out of the city? We only need to get past the spell field blocking our senkaimon."

"If you just need to get out of the city then it'll take about an hour, maybe more if you want to put some distance between Las Noches and yourselves."

Inoue came back with a small pack on her back, "Alright we should have everything. Are you ready to leave Miss Rukia?"

"We've been ready for hours," muttered Renji, only to recieve a punch to the gut via Rukia.

"Here," Inoue handed her an old cape, "this will help hide you in the desert. Black shihakusho kind of stand out, so these should help." She handed one to Renji.

Fitting the robe over she shihakusho, Rukia asked "So now will you help us or not?"

* * *

"This is digusting."

"I never said what kind of tunnels they were."

"You could have at least clerified!"

For once Rukia completely agreed with Renji, having imagined their escape far differently than what Zangetsu apparently had in mind.

"I still don't see why we have to take the sewers," Renji continued, "Couldn't we just have gone through another tunnel?"

"I told you Aizen has camera's and spies all over the place, the sewers piping is the best option to avoid them since we're so far down."

"How do you even know this leads out of Las Noches?"

"Do you really want to know or are you just asking for the hell of it?"

"... Never mind."

"I'm sorry Zangetsu but how much longer is this going to take? We've been crawling for hours," asked Rukia, tired of being wet and sore. Not surprising that Zangetsu didn't seem to mind the state, but Inoue hadn't complained once since they crawled into the pipe.

"We should be about a mile out of the city, and why do you keep calling me Zangetsu?"

"That's your name isn't it?"

"Huh? No it's not my name."

"That's my fault," Inoue apologized, "I kept referring to you as Zangetsu instead of your real name."

"It's fine Inoue. Just for the record shinigami, my name is not Zangetsu. That's just the name is use in the ring. My real name is Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

Renji burst out laughing, "I-Ichigo!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh my gooodddss! AAAAHHHHAHAHAHAH! That's so cute!"

"IT IS NOT CUTE!" the boy yelled back. "Ichi stands for one and Go stands for guardian!"

"Y-Yeah... Okay... Strawberry," Renji held his stomach and rolled over laughing. Rukia was tempted to join in the laughter, watching as the orange boy beat her friend in the middle of the piping while Renji continued to howl. Inoue seemed to be humoured by the boys, a pleasant smile on her face.

They crawled for another hour or so, Rukia couldn't tell, before Ichigo stopped them.

"Alright we should be far enough now. Up we go," He lifted a part of the pipe and climbed out, Renji, Inoue, and then Rukia following suit. She climbed a ladder out until reaching the surface, the others already up and stretching out their sore joints. Rukia breathed in the fresh air and stretched herself, her shoulders and knees terribly stiff from hours of crawling through the cramped pipe, and dusted the gunk off with sand. Around them was nothing but desert, a few crystal trees sprouting randomly and low hills in the distance. On the horizon she could just make out Las Noches, the white walls of the massive city still visible ever from miles away. The sight was more vial to Rukia than it had been three days ago when she wasn't a wanted fugitive, but she also felt a deep sense of longing for the place. Trapped inside Las Noches' palace were her brother and dear sister; the closest and most loved of all her family, the Head of the Kuchiki clan Byakuya, a captain. She still didn't even know why they had been arrested in the first place...

"So are you going to open the senki thing or what?" Ichigo said.

Renji pulled _Zabimaru_ from his side, "It's called a _senkaimon_. What kind of shinigami has never heard of a senkaimon?"

"I'm not a shinigami."

"Right, and I'm actually a _kaizo konpaku_ in a gigai."

Ignoring the glare Ichigo was giving him, Renji held _Zabimaru_ up and twisted the zanpaku-to in the air. As it should have happened a gate appeared where Renji had turned the sword and opened up into the portal-like gateway entrance to the Soul Society, but it didn't. Nothing happened. Renji tried again and failed.

"Are you doing it right?" Rukia asked, slightly annoyed that it was taking so long.

"I'm doing it perfectly! What, you think I don't know how to open a senkaimon? I'm an assistant captain for crying out loud!"

"Well you are obviously doing something wrong because the gate should have opened on the first try!"

"You try it then if you think it'll help!"

"I will!" Rukia mimicked the actions to open the gate, yet no gate appeared.

"Uh..." said Ichigo. "Should something have happened right now?"

"I don't understand, why isn't it working?"

"What is a senkaimon, anyway?" Inoue asked. She had never heard the term before, and so she thought it must be something only shinigami from the Court Guard used.

Rukia took a deep breath and explained.

"A senkaimon is a portal that acts as a direct passageway to the Soul Society. It's often used for long distance travel or emergencies, and can only be opened by a skilled shinigami."

Ichigo and Inoue both made an "oh I get it!" face.

"So it's like a garganta!" Ichigo exclaimed.

Inoue agreed, "That definitely sounds like a garganta, wow I no idea that arrancar and shinigami portals were so similar!"

"Yeah the only thing that's different is that garganta's only go to Hueco Mundo. Other than that they're the same thing."

"That might explain why it isn't working we must still be too close to the dead zone!"

"It might. Damn it that means we'll have to go farther! I don't know how to get to Soul Society from here!"

"What if you opened a garganta? Can you even do that?"

"Sort of but it's not really stable and I can only open one with enough room for just me. I doubt I could make one big enough for four."

Inoue and Ichigo continued to mutter between themselves, leaving Renji and Rukia out to make their own conversation. Rukia still couldn't understand why the senkaimon wouldn't open, a shinigami's portal was nothing like a hollows, but it was the only explanation they had. So unless they found another way to get to Soul Society they would end up walking. _Perhaps we could find a caravan_ , Rukia thought. She didn't know of any caravans that traveled between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society specifically, but there must be some out there. Then again even _with_ a mode of transport it would take days to reach the Seireitei, and Rukia had no idea just how far out in the desert they were. It was impossible to tell time when it was constantly midnight in the bleak wasteland, and they had only what Inoue packed for food and water.

"What if we just asked him?" Inoue spoke to Ichigo.

Rukia had lost half of their conversation, and Ichigo stared at Inoue in despair.

"No way I'd rather die out here than ask him."

"But Miss Rukia and Renji need to get to Soul Society, and by now we'll be wanted too!"

Ichigo looked inclined to disagree, but Inoue's puppy dog eyes were impossible to ignore and he broke.

"FINE! Okay? Please stop with the eyes!"

Inoue smiled in victory and turned to Rukia, "We know someone who might be able to get you to Soul Society easily, and he's not far from here."

"We'll have to use shunpo," said Ichigo, "Or else it'll take too long to get there and we'll end up wasting time."

"How far is this friend of yours?" Renji asked both of them.

"About three hours if we push it. I can carry Inoue if you're both alright by yourselves."

"Hang on I'm not too keen on going somewhere to meet a stranger without knowing something about them first."

"Like what?"

"Who is he and how do you know him? Just what kind of guy are you taking us to?"

Ichigo looked distressed thinking about the answer, making a sour face and looking away from Renji.

"He's a freak with a serious bipolar disorder and no sense of privacy. He's also a conman and a creep so don't trust anything he says. Also..."

Ichigo cringed.

"He's my teacher."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write! I hope you all enjoyed it, because there is more to come next time! I can't wait to bring in more characters, and please don't worry, I will delve more into plot further on. This was just a nice break for me and you before all hell breaks loose!  
> Thank you for the kudos! And please feel free to leave a review!


	5. Chapter 5

Ichigo was in a terrible mood.

First the shinigami insist on making fun of his name, then their one shot at getting to the Soul Society backfired leaving them with only one other option. An option Ichigo dreaded. Just the thought of having to see _them_ again was like a knife to his chest. He hadn't been kidding when he told Inoue he would rather die than ask for help, although he might have exaggerated a bit. The last time he had seen any of them was over a year ago and due to some unfortunate circumstances he was far than willing to face them again.

But Ichigo kept his promises, and he had promised to help get the shinigami to Soul Society.

Even if it meant begging Kisuke Urahara for a ride there.

They had been running for nearly two hours, just enough so that Ichigo could see their destination ahead, the two shinigami keeping up surprisingly well despite their spiritual pressure. Inoue was getting cramped, having been carried on his back to whole time, and it had been a while since they ate anything. He wasn't sure when the shinigami had last eaten but he was sure they would be fine, Inoue though would need some food soon, or at least some water.

"So how much longer is it till we reach this master of yours?" the red haired shinigami, Renji, asked.

"He's not my master, just some guy I trained with a while ago."

"Whatever. How much longer?"

"See that town?" Ichigo pointed ahead of them. "That's where we're going."

The sand turned to grass and the desert retreated into the distance as they got closer and closer to the town. Green trees and crops sprouted around in small farms and orchards, wooden buildings and streets growing from the ground as the town grew into full view. It was larger than most villages Rukia and Renji had seen this far out from the Soul Society, and possibly the only one for miles. Rukia sensed about a hundred thousand souls, none of them were arrancar or shinigami which only left one other kind. Human.

"This is a human village, is is not?" she asked Ichigo.

"Yeah, Karakura Town is the only settlement I know of that's between both Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society."

"There aren't any other cities around here?"

"Not that I've seen."

Something about that didn't make sense to Rukia. Most human cities were under the protection of the Court Guard and within Soul Societies borders, located as far from the hollow world as possible. There shouldn't be a settlement this close to Hueco Mundo, at least not without a steady shinigami patrol on guard. Rukia could sense some abnormal spirit energies within the town, possibly the shinigami guards, as well as some other strong signatures that she couldn't identify.

Renji was less impressed, "How the hell is a human supposed to help us get to the Soul Society?"

Ichigo ignored the question and let Inoue off his back, the girl shaking her legs awake and stretching down to touch her toes. Inoue gazed up at Karakura and a smile spread across her face. It had been a long time since she'd last seen the town and nostalgia washed over her like a water on sand, bringing back every memory of her old life in waves. She wondered if her old apartment was dusty, if the high school was still there, if that bakery she had always loved still made fresh bread each day...

"Come one," Ichigo started walking into the town, "We're still be hunted, it'll be easier to hide in the town."

"I still don't see how humans can help," grumbled Renji. They followed Ichigo through Karakura, Rukia taking in the sights with some interest while Renji remained detached. Inoue's eyes lite up like fireworks at each thing from the passing pedestrians to the concrete buildings. Rukia was surprised by her enthusiasm, surprised more by how much the princess seemed to know about human architecture, and decided to ask the girl about it.

"Hm?" Inoue looked at the shinigami woman in confusion, "Oh, that's because I grew up in Karakura. This is where I'm from originally."

"You mean you were born here?" Rukia, in extreme surprise, said.

"Yep, in fact Ichigo was born here too. We're both from Karakura Town. It's been so long since I've been home I nearly forgot what it looks like! It's much different from Las Noches. The sun here is real and everything!"

Ichigo agreed, "Not much as changed actually, but I guess that's to be expected. We weren't gone that long."

Renji stopped walking, "Alright that's it! Stop moving, hold it right there!"

The three stopped, Ichigo, and Rukia, staring at Renji like he was insane.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I want some answers right now! First! Explain how some random shinigami ends up in Las Noches, claims he's not part of the Court Guard, and refuses to tell a superior officer the truth!? Second!" he pointed at Inoue, "You're the princess of Las Noches, what do you mean you weren't born there and grew up in some random human village? That doesn't make sense! And lastly! How the freaking HELL is a HUMAN MAN supposed to help us reach Soul Society before Aizen and his arrancar find us!? Nothing you two say makes any sense!"

Even though she too had those very same questions, Rukia thought that Renji total lack of restraint was embarrassing.

_Honestly he can be such a child sometimes_ , she thought. Ichigo and Inoue looked equally startled by Renji's outburst, both of them backing away an inch as if they thought he might reach out.

"L-Look man," Ichigo started, "We'll answer your questions, just not right now. You guys need to get to Soul Society, right? Well then this is the only way we're going to get there."

"'We'?"

"Yeah, 'we'. You think Inoue and I can go back to Las Noches after helping a couple of fugitives escape the king? We're probably public enemies number one through four by now. Besides this Society place sounds interesting so I want to see what it's like."

Renji would have argued had Rukia not interjected at that moment.

"We'll discuss that later, for now just show us this 'Urahara' man you told us about. Whether he is human or not all that matters is that we get to the Soul Society before Aizen finds us. Right Renji?"

She glared at him with sharp eyes, making sure he fully understood their situation. Ichigo and Inoue agreed and the four continued on through the town, ignoring the strange looks the townspeople gave them. They stopped and pointed, Rukia catching words like _shinigami_ and _shoten_ as they pressed on after Ichigo and Inoue farther into the town. The two children seemed unfazed by the sudden attention, in fact they continued to talk to each other about certain things Rukia couldn't understand like a _high school_ , and _clinic_ , things she knew were ordinary but for somehow seemed important to the two.

A loud _meow_ caught Rukia's attention and she turned her head to see a beautiful black cat standing next to her and looking up at Rukia with big purple eyes.

Now Rukia didn't mind cats, kittens were adorable and _ginnosuke_ was a somewhat popular gikon in the WSA, but they were no _chappy_ and Rukia's brother had always forbad the presence of felines on the Kuchiki grounds. The cat was friendly enough though and rubbed against Rukia's leg as it purred and meowed for attention.

"Huh," she kneeled down to pet the animal, "I didn't realise that human villages were home to cats too. I've never seen one with purple eyes before."

Renji was suddenly interested in the cat as well, "So human's have these running around too? What do they use them for?"

"I think they're feral, like in Rukongai."

"So they keep them to hunt vermin? Wouldn't falcon's be better?"

"Maybe they're also pets? Inoue, Ichigo, what do humans usually do with cats?"

She looked to the two for an answer and was immediately struck with confusion. On one hand Inoue looked delighted to see the feline, stars in her eyes and a smile on her face as she gasped at the animal, and on the other hand Ichigo looked as if a corpse had come back to life and was currently rubbing against Renji's leg.

"Ms. Yoruichi!" Inoue cried and bounded to the cat, falling to her knees as the cat wandered to the girl. She picked up the feline and held it in her arms lovingly, then let the cat crawl up to her shoulders and lay like a scarf around her neck.

"Look Ichigo! It's Ms. Yoruichi, I can't believe she's still here!"

Ichigo grimaced and leaned away from the animal, "Y-Yeah... Nice to you again, Ms. Yoruichi."

The cat meowed and Ichigo backed away again.

"You know this cat, Inoue?" Rukia asked the girl.

Inoue nodded and scratched the cat's head, "Mhmm, Ms. Yoruichi has been living in Karakura longer than I have, Ichigo and I have known her since we were little."

"Long time for a simple black cat. Are you sure it's the same one?"

"Oh definitely. I know it's been awhile since I've seen her but you can never forget Ms. Yoruichi," the cat yawned and jumped from Inoue's shoulder. It rubbed against the girl's skirt and meowed at Ichigo, who at this point was practically hiding behind Renji, before wandering off down a side street. Inoue waved goodbye to the cat, and although Rukia did the girl's reaction to the animal odd it was nothing compared to Ichigo. Renji had to physically push the boy away from behind him and even then the weird boy had immediately moved to Inoue's side, as far from the leaving feline as possible. Rukia didn't know what his problem was, perhaps Ichigo just had a fear of cats? Maybe he had bad experiences with the Ms. Yoruichi?

"Do you think everyone else is still here too?" Inoue asked Ichigo.

Ichigo didn't take his eyes off the side street, "Probably."

Inoue put her hand on his arm softly, "Maybe we can go see the old clinic?"

"Nah, we should just get to Urahara. There's something I need to talk to him about."

Rukia was curious about what "clinic" Inoue spoke of, but Ichigo was right and they were very pressed for time. They were still wanted throughout Hueco Mundo and probably being hunted this. The last thing Rukia wanted right now was to bring all hell down on the humans for something that had nothing to do with them.

"How far away is this friend of yours from here?" she asked the two.

"We're in the southern most district, Urahara's is about twenty minutes northwest from here. Ten if we use shunpo again but I don't think that's good idea, people around here aren't used to seeing shinigami and might freak out."

"Fine, but let's just hurry. No more distractions -"

"OI! KUROSAKI!" a unbelieveably loud voice yelled.

Rukia, covering her ears, turned around to see in the distance a... little girl in pigtails and sandals. Rukia didn't see any parents, in fact some of the other villagers turned away from the girl as she huffed and puffed in their direction. As if Ms. Yoruichi had come back, Ichigo seized up, then grabbed Rukia's collar and Inoue around the waist.

"Come on we're keeping Urahara waiting!" and he ran. Rukia felt her stomach drop as they flew through the streets, Renji breaking a sweat to keep up, and Ichigo obviously not caring anymore if they looked suspicious. She swore she heard the girl call Ichigo's name again but the words were lost to the wind as they moved. In a couple seconds flat they came to a stop, Ichigo releasing his hold on Rukia's collar and the noble Kuchiki fell to the ground as her legs gave out and turned to jelly.

Inoue nearly fell over from dizziness, and Rukia needed Renji's help to stand.

"This is where Urahara lives," Ichigo said.

Once her head stopped spinning Rukia was able to see where they actually were. It was a tiny shop, two open doors and an old sign on the roof that read **Urahara Shoten**. The shop looked run down and old, the wood supporting the structure slightly worn and the roof was missing a couple tiles, not at all the place Rukia would expect to find someone versed in the knowledge of shinigami senkaimon. Yet Inoue seemed to have faith that the stranger could help, and the girl hadn't lead them astray yet, and it wasn't like Rukia had a lot of options at the moment, so meeting this Urahara person was Renji and her's best choice.

Standing outside the shop were two children, a young boy with fiery red hair and a young girl with dark pigtails and bang in her face. The boy was seemingly watching the girl, barking at her over missing a small spot, while the girl ignored him and continued to sweep the dirt in front of the shop.

Ichigo, with Inoue holding his coat tail to keep herself balanced, raised his hand and greeted the children, "Oi! Jinta! Ururu!"

The children looked at the older boy. The boy's, Jinta, eyes widened suddenly and he pointed his finger at Ichigo dramatically.

"It's you! The stupid strawberry!"

Inoue had to physically restrain Ichigo before he could beat Jinta upside the head.

"L-Look," Ichigo calmed himself, "We just need to talk to Geta-boshi, is he here?"

"Huh? Why the hell should I tell you?"

"Because I asked and you should respect your elders."

"Fat chance stupid strawberry. The boss doesn't want to see you anyways."

"I don't care, is he here or not!?"

"I'm not telling you!"

The little girl stopped sweeping, "He's inside," and continued her work.

"Wha?! Ururu don't talk to him! He's a traitor!"

"I'm not a traitor, what are you even talking about?"

"Traitor! You brought shinigami with you!"

"I'm trying to get them back to their home, just go back to whatever you were doing!"

Rukia could have watched and waited for hours as the two boys argued back and forth, but she was fed up with just about everything. She pushed past Renji and walked straight up to the Jinta child and stuck her finger in his little face.

"Listen boy, I am Kuchiki Rukia an officer of the Thirteen Court Guard Companies and I have had a long day. My brother and sister are being held by a traitorous king and I and my friend here, an Assistant Captain by the way, and it is our duty to inform the Head Captain of King Aizen's betrayal and so help me **boy** if war breaks out and the Court is forced to go to war with a stronger military power than I hope you will have the full knowledge that it is all your fault that thousands will have died all because you simply could not do as you were asked. Now show me to your master before I show you the difference between you and my zanpaku-to."

Had it been anyone else Rukia would have turned them to ice in a second, but the look she gave this boy was colder and Jinta nodded so fast it was as if his head were vibrating. He pointed inside the shop, Ururu quietly stepping out of their way, and Rukia stormed into the shoten. Behind her, Renji, Ichigo, and Inoue cautiously followed but kept a safe distance from the chilly woman.

The inside of the shop was stocked with random products, some Rukia recognized and others she wasn't familiar with. At the back as a step to an upper part of the shop which presumably lead to the back and living quarters. In the middle of the shop Rukia stopped suddenly, nearly causing Renji to topple on top of her, and Ichigo and Inoue onto him. Not believing her eyes, Rukia only stared at the sight before her.

It was Ms. Yoruichi, the cat from the street, sitting on a pillow and looking directly at her with her big purple eyes.

"Hey isn't that-?" Renji began to ask but stopped as Ichigo walked in front of them. Ms. Yoruichi stood on all fours and walked into the back rooms as Ichigo followed her.

He looked back at them for a moment, "I'll get Mr. Urahara for you. Just wait here with Inoue."

Rukia would have asked what he was going to do, but Ichigo vanished behind the wall and away from her sight. She looked at Inoue, the girl looking around her with a sad smile on her face and picking up different products. Rukia had seen that look before. She felt it every time she left the barracks at Thirteenth Company for the Kuchiki manor. Inoue sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek, and Rukia placed a hand on the girls back.

"I. I'm sorry," she said. "It's just been a long time since I've been here."

"Do you want to talk?" Rukia asked her.

Inoue shook her head and took a breath, "No, I'm fine. Let's just wait for Ichigo to come back, then we can explain everything to Mr. Urahara."

Renji frowned and crossed his arms, "I'm still not sure how reliable this guy is. No human can possibly know the secrets with creating a senkaimon and even if he did there's no way he could create one. Human's just don't have the ability."

"We don't have much choice Renji. Our senkaimon's couldn't open in Hueco Mundo and we don't know how far the inhibitor barrier goes."

"Exactly, we're not in Hueco Mundo anymore so why are we relying on the help of a human, a rogue shinigami, and the ward of the man who wants us arrested? How do we know that our senkaimon don't work here?"

"Well then why don't you try opening one?!"

"Maybe I will!"

Rukia sneered at the man, grasping Inoue close to her and refusing to break eye contact as she and Renji stared each other down. Their only interruption was Ichigo who stormed past them and out of the shop with a dangerous look on his already scowling face. He grumbled and threw open the shop's door, ignored Jinta's yelling, and disappeared around the corner still grumbling to himself.

"Haha, he certainly hasn't changed a bit," a voice joked.

A man walked from around the corner Ichigo had come from, Ms. Yoruichi trailing behind him, wearing a dark coat with a white diamond pattern along the end, along with a dark green shirt and pants. Over his messy pale blond hair he wore a striped green and white bucket hat, and _geta_ sandals on his feet.

The man yawned and scratched himself before plugging his bleeding nose, "Well now it seems I have some new guests today."

"Mr. Urahara!" Inoue cried and leapt at the man, giving him a bone crushing hug. Urahara, both surprised and in slight pain, smiled widely and patted the girl's head.

"Now here's a face I haven't seen in awhile."

"It's very nice to see you again!"

"You too Miss Inoue! My, my you've grown into such a beautiful young lady~."

Rukia immediately pulled Inoue away from the man, not liking one bit the way he phrased his words.

"Ah~! This must be the shinigami people Mr. Kurosaki was telling me about! It's very nice to meet a member of the esteemed Kuchiki clan," Urahara pulled a fan from his pocket and bowed slightly at Rukia.

She had no idea what to make of this man. Was he really going to help them? Was he even able to? Or was this all just a con set up by Aizen to lure her back and start a war with the Soul Society and cause him to take control of the both kingdoms?

"And this must be your man servant~!" Urahara had vanished from before Rukia and was shaking Renji's hand with a loof smile on his slightly hairy face. "A pleasure to meet you Mr. Man Servant."

"I'm not a man servant! I'm the Assistant Captain of Sixth Company-"

"Alright, anyways~! I heard you two need a senkaimon ready for you to go back to the Soul Society. Well lucky for you I happen to be the only supplier of shinigami affairs in the whole town so you've come to the right place!"

Rukia was still suspicious, "So you can open a senkaimon?"

"Sure can. Unfortunately it's gonna take a while to prepare the necessary tools to open one."

"How long?"

"About a day."

"WHAT!?" Renji and Rukia shouted simultaneously.

"There is also an operating and services fee."

"WHAT!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write, banter is always so good and therapeutic for me. Next chapter will hopefully be posted sooner and will introduce some new characters!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Rukia did not trust Urahara Kisuke one bit.

He was shady, secretive, two-faced, and perverted. Already she had knocked the man in the face after he made an upsetting remark about there being "so many beautiful young ladies in my store", and now after explaining their situation she, Renji, and Inoue sat in the back room with a low tea table, waiting for Urahara to speak.

The man waved his fan to hide his bleeding nose, "You're all welcome to stay here while the _senkaimon_ is being built. Miss Inoue, I'm afraid your old home was shut down while you were gone, so you'll have to find somewhere else to live."

Inoue looked at the floor, “That’s okay. I have been gone for a while.”

“On the plus side you’re perfectly welcome to stay here or at another home until you find somewhere else! I’ll even give you the guest room for tonight!”

The girl smiled softly before her face lite up.

"Oh!” She exclaimed. “I should go see Tatsuki and the others! She's going to be so worried about me!" and bolted out of the shoten, leaving only Rukia and Renji. Urahara smiled and waved goodbye after the girl, Yoruichi on his lap and watching Rukia.

"Ah, to be young again~.” The man mused. “Now Miss Rukia, you and your manservant are free to stay here while the _senkaimon_ is being built."

“You said it would take you a day to build. Is it possible to create one any sooner?” Rukia asked.

Urahara shook his head, “Sorry but it’s impossible for anything other than a _ganganta_ to be opened by hollows in this city. For me to create a _senkaimon_ will take 24 hours, and until then you are free to stay here or look around. Just keep your powers contained and you shouldn’t cause any trouble to the people.”

“Twenty four hours!?” Rukia lost her composure. She stood up and put her hands on her hips as she stared Urahara down.

“We should be in the Seireitei right warning our captains on Aizen's betrayal! My brother and sister are prisoners, they could be hurt or dead and you want me to sit around and wait for you to build an imitation _senkaimon_!?"

"Tell me Miss Rukia, what do you know about Sosuke Aizen?"

"... Pardon me?"

"You two were in Las Noches for about three days, correct? Well in that time did you ever actually have a conversation with Aizen?"

"What are you getting at?" asked Renji, a look of suspicion on his face.

Urahara set down his fan, "I've had dealings with both of Hueco Mundo and Soul Society's leaders over the years, I pride myself on having knowledge that very few others possess. Believe me when I tell you that your brother and sister are fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"What reason would Mr. Aizen have for harming Lord and Lady Kuchiki? Do they have any information he could use? Would the Kuchiki clan run to help your brother and sister? Do you even know what Aizen wants?"

Rukia was lost for words. Until this point she had only been driven by the need to report the broken treaty and demand the release of her brother and sister. Renji didn't say why they had been taken prisoner, he only knew what Byakuya had told him. They hadn't stopped to think, there was no time.

"You see?" Urahara continued, "Aizen is a tricky and dangerous man, Miss Rukia. It's more than likely that your sister and brother are part of a much bigger plan, but if you're still serious about going back to the Seireitei-"

She snapped, "Tell me what you know about Aizen."

* * *

Orihime was in a mix of emotions as she sat in Tatsuki's room, a bruise on her head and both the girl's eyes red from tears. Orihime had found Tatsuki's home easily, her feet taking her back to the place automatically. As if the years had washed away and she was still just a student visiting her friend after class, like she hadn't spent the last two years locked away in a desert kingdom against her will. Tatsuki had yelled at her, punched her on the head and called her terrible, and she had cried. From there it was mostly crying between both young women until they had settled enough for Orihime to explain in full what had happened to her between those two years and now.

Tatsuki held her teacup in her hands and glared at it, "That sounds terrible."

Orihime, holding her own cup much closer, nodded, "Not all of it was so bad. There are some good people there, and I still had a lot of freedom."

"You were being held against your will! You had to pose as a princess and was forced to lie to everyone!"

"Y-Yes, but that's all over now! I don't ever have to go back and I can stay here forever."

"Why didn't you try to leave sooner? How come no one tried to save you if they knew where you were?!"

"Ichigo tried! He went to Las Noches to save me."

"Well then why didn't he?!"

"Because-!" her words caught in her throat and she stopped. She looked away from Tatsuki, not wanting her best friend to see her face and stared at the wall, biting her lip.

Tatsuki took a deep breath, "Something happened, right? Something that's between just you and Ichigo. Well fine, you don't have to tell me what it is. Just promise me that you won't leave again without telling me."

A small smile appeared on Orihime's lips, "I promise."

"Good. Also I want to meet these shinigami you told me about. I need to make sure that you're safe with them."

"Yeah. Okay."

"Why are you smiling like that? What's so funny about me wanting to protect you!?"

"N-Nothing!" she sniffed and wiped away a tear. Across from her Tatsuki smiled, scooted closer to her friend, and wrapped her arms around Orihime tightly. She tried to hide the water in her eyes, but for once Tatsuki's angry, tough expression broke.

"I really missed you," she whispered, pulling Orihime closer to her.

Orihime, crying once again, returned the hug and squeezed, "I missed you too."

* * *

 

Being back in Karakura brought back memories; good and bad.

After waking Kisuke up from an afternoon nap via his foot to the man's chest, Ichigo had explained his sudden reappearance and the situation he, Inoue, and the shinigami currently faced. Like clockwork, Kisuke reacted by smiling and saying something slightly perverted before jokingly asking Ichigo what his "vacation" in Hueco Mundo had been like. Ichigo in return gave the man a bloody nose and told him he was leaving.

He had wanted to speak with both ex-shinigami, but Kisuke was obviously unwilling to drop the harmless shopkeeper act and Yoruichi refused to revert from her feline form. Which left Ichigo with only one other option.

An option he would definitely have preferred to avoid at all costs. Mostly because the conversation was either going to end with him going through a wall, or someone else.

So he wandered and took his time, steaming off from his half-assed conversation with Urahara, until he came to the very familiar wreck of a barn house. It looked exactly as it did two years ago, which he shouldn't have been surprised by, the only new addition being a large metal door in place of the old double doors that had previously been there. 

He supposed it had something to do with Hiyori, the crazy little woman had always been throwing things and people through walls and doors whenever she got pissed off. Ichigo shuddered at the thought of once again having to face the wrath of Hiyori, memories of her sandal and snarling face as unpleasant as the real thing.

For a moment he wondered if leaving the shinigami alone with Urahara had been a bad idea.

He shook his head and pushed the worry away to stare at the metal wall in front of him. 

_ Might as well get it over with _ , he thought.

Slowly, almost resentfully, he moved to knock on the metal before a sharp voice caused him to twitch and stop. "KUROSAKI!" Ichigo flinched and turned around, seeing the red haired shinigami, Renji something, running towards him with a frown on his face.

"H-Hey," he stuttered, nervously. Ichigo wondered for a split second why the shinigami had followed him, then flipped to another problem. A shinigami in Karakura was one problem, a shinigami finding out about Hirako and the others, a lieutenant nonetheless, was another, much larger, problem.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Renji asked him.

"What are you doing? Weren't you at Urahara's with the other shinigami?"

"I was, but we finished our conversation. Rukia went looking for Inoue, and I figured it was best we know exactly where you are too. So why are you running around by yourself in the outskirts of town?"

"None of your business. Look I'll be back at Urahara's in a few hours so just wait for me there."

"Hell no. If you think for a second I'm going to leave you alone then you're a bigger moron than I thought. I don't know enough about you, for all I know you're just a spy for Aizen and are about to rat us out."

"I'm not a spy, and I'm not ratting anyone out. I just need to do something out here and it's none of your business, so leave."

Renji wasn't convinced, "What's so important that you need to visit an old barn?"

"Nothing! Just go away!"

"Make me!"

"Jackass, I told you it's nothing!"

"Then show me what it is!"

"There's nothing to show you!"

"Well I wouldn't know about that."

Both Ichigo and Renji ceased fighting and looked to the barn entrance. For Renji, the man standing before him looked unimpressive and bored, his mouth hung half-open and his eyes were drooped. Blond hair was cut cleanly around his head and above his eyes and his clothes clutched tightly around his lanky frame. A loose tie hung from his neck and an old hat rested on top his head. All in all, the man looked like every other human Renji had seen wandering around town.

To Ichigo, seeing the man set a fire in his chest. The urge to put his fist through Hirako's stupid face was tantalizing, but the awkwardness of seeing Hirako again after nearly two years did little more than let him gawk like an idiot.

Renji, not knowing why the hollow boy had gone statue, spoke first, "Hey, do you live here?"

Hirako shrugged, "Maybe, why?"

"Kurosaki said he has some business here."

Ichigo sneered at the shinigami for ratting him out, and turned his head when Hirako looked at him.

"Did he now? Well it's always a pleasure ta see Ichi," Hirako stepped toward Ichigo. "Who's yer friend?"

"He's not my friend," Ichigo answered with a glare.

Shrugging again, Hirako invited both Ichigo and Renji inside the barn, "Make sure ta wipe yer feet."

Renji followed the stranger willingly, Ichigo begrudgingly followed in suit still scowling, into the barn. The inside was much different than from what Renji had pictured. There were three levels, the first ground floor was somewhat furnished with pieces of old furniture scattered around, and other men and women were lounging around in random and dispersed parts of the barn.

"Oi," the blond man turned to Ichigo, "Yer gonna have ta explain yerself ta everyone. Especially-."

"YOU STUPID JACKASS!" someone screamed and Renji watched as suddenly Ichigo was hit in the face and thrown to the ground, a young girl landing on top of him with her foot on his face. He watched in horror as the girl continued to yell profanities at Kurosaki, who yelled back just as rudely, and stomped on his face while he tried to throw her off. 

The blond man next to Renji simply watched with a small smile on his face until Kurosaki was finally able to toss the girl off of him.

"What the hell, Hiyori!?"

"Shut up, stupid brat! Why are you here!?"

"Why are you attacking people from the ceiling!?"

"Why are you such a little bitch?"

At this point the other occupants of the home had gathered around the trio. Renji counted six people, not including the blond man and Hiyori, who had gathered around to watch Ichigo struggle as Hiyori tried again to stick her foot in his face. A large man,  Renji didn't believe it but this guy might be bigger than Captain Zaraki, with a mustache and thin pink hair, sighed and said, "This is no way to welcome him."

Another blond man, this one with hair longer than Renji's and curled, shook his head and put his hand over his eyes dramatically, "Such a state for the prodigal child to return from. Too long a journey it must have been."

"What are you talking about?" the glasses wearing woman (Renji quickly diverted his eyes away from her (very) short skirt) snapped. "I say he deserves this."

With a yell, Kurosaki threw Hiyori away from him and the girl landed in front of Renji. For the first time she seemed to realize that Renji was actually there, and pointed at him.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Excuse me?" Renji said.

"You! Who are you!? Why the hell are you here, baldy?!"

Renji, a look of confusion on his face, glared at the short blonde, "What did you just call me?"

Hiyori matched his glare, "Are you hard of hearing, dumb baldy? Do I need to scream it to you? Who the hell are you and why are you here!?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, short stack."

Hiyori fumed and before Renji could react she had sent her foot flying upwards, and Renji hit the ground clutching his crotch. Ichigo watched, slightly thankful that Hiyori had found someone else to beat on for the time being, before turning to Shinji.

"Can we talk for a minute? In private."

The man studied Ichigo's face for a second before agreeing, and the two left Renji alone with the strangers for another room. Ichigo made sure the door was shut tight before facing Hirako, his permanent scowl slightly deeper than normal.

"Alright," the Visored man crossed his arms, "What did ya want ta talk about?"

"How come you never told me about my parents?"

Hirako stood still for a second, the shock on his face easing off before he sighed and rubbed his neck, "Right, that... Found out did ya?"

"Yeah, I did. Now answer my question. Why didn't you tell me?"

"What can I say, kid? Just never found a good time ta mention it."

"Bullshit!" Ichigo snapped. "You could have told me anytime you wanted but you didn't, neither did Urahara or Yoruichi or Tessai. I had to find out from Aizen! Now tell me the truth!"

Hirako tried to look unfazed as he held his hands up in defence, "Fine, fine, ya don't have ta yell at me. We didn't tell ya because ya didn't need ta know. Not yet, anyway. Ya were busy with trainin' and dealin' with yer hollow power, ya didn't need more ta stress over. Kisuke, Yoruichi, and I figured it best ta wait a while till we came clean but then ya went AWOL tryin' ta save Orihime and we never got the chance."

Taking in the older visoreds words, Ichigo asked, "How long have you known?"

"Me? Not very long. Kisuke told me just after ya started trainin' here. I almost didn't believe him."

Ichigo faked a laugh and slumped to the floor, "Yeah, me neither."

"When did ya find out?" Hirako asked the boy and sat down across from him. He hadn't seen Ichigo in over two years, not since he was fourteen, and in his personal opinion the time had not done the kid any good. Ichigo looked tired.

"About a month now. One day Aizen found me and we talked. Sort of."

"Ya believed him?"

"At least he told me," Ichigo said bitterly.

"Uh huh. What exactly did he tell ya?"

"Dad was a shinigami, mom was a Quincy who ended up being hollowfied, and then I got the best of both of their abilities. It explains my hollow half, I suppose."

Sighing deeply, Shinji rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, that's about it. He tell ya anything else?"

Ichigo seemed to shrink a little.

"Hey," Shinji said, sterner. "What else did he say?"

"...He said he knows where my dad is."

Shinji heaved a breath and rubbed his eyes,  _ of course he said that _ , "And ya think he's tellin' the truth."

"No, I think he's baiting me and I'm not stupid enough to bite."

Hirako looked at him, not convinced one bit, "But?"

This time Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes, "But what if he does? Aizen has eyes everywhere, so if anyone would know it would be him. Why else would he tell me?"

"Kid I'd thought ya'd learn by now that ya can't trust that freak. Even if he tells ya where ta look, could ya trust that that's where he'd be? Ya'd take the word of  **Aizen** and go off ta some random place on the  _ slight _ chance that yer dad might be there? Are ya really that stupid?"

"Of course not!"

"Then stay outta trouble, and keep away from Hueco Mundo from now on. Yer lucky ta have gotten outta there in the first place."

Ichigo almost laughed, "Hardly. Aizen let us go."

"What makes ya say that?"

"It was too easy to get out of Las Noches. There are hundreds of guards posted around the city, even more in the palace. The shinigami I'm helping shouldn't have been able to escape there, much less make it all the way to me without being spotted. Even if Inoue was guiding them. The Espada could track them easily and arrest them in a second, or Aizen could have had them killed before they knew what hit them. We used the underground pipes to get out and I know a fact that there isn't a secret passage in Las Noches that Aizen doesn't know about."

"What makes ya so certain?"

"I just know, okay? Let it go."

"Alright, alright. No need ta get all grouchy at me. So why would the would-be-king let ya go?"

"That's what I don't get. If he wanted a war then it would be easiest to just have killed the shinigami, but instead he just arrested Rukia's brother and let her and Renji get away."

"Renji the shinigami you brought with ya?"

"I told you he followed me, but yeah. Rukia's still at Urahara's, he building the  _ senkaimon _ that will get us to Soul Society."

Raising a brow, Shinji asked the boy, "Yer goin' ta Soul Society?"

"Well where else am I supposed to go? Inoue and I can't stay here, it'll just bring Aizen to Karakura."

"Not necessarily. How would ya be any safer bein' with the shinigami than bein' here? At least here no one's gonna attack ya for being different."

"I can control it."

"Barely."

Ichigo glared at him but didn't say anything before standing up, "Whatever. We're here until  _ Geta-boshi  _ gets the  _ senkaimon _ working."

Shinji followed his honorary adopted brother out the room and back to the great hall, where the shinigami (Renji, was it?) was being attacked both verbally by Lisa, Love, and Kensei, and physically by Hiyori and Mashiro. Hirako had to admit, watching as the red haired man threw off an aerial attack from Mashiro while barking an answer back at Kensei (who was yelling just as angrily).

"Gonna go see yer friends?" Shinji asked the carrot top.

Ichigo shrugged, "Probably. I need to apologise to Chad for disappearing, and Ishida will most likely just chew me out for failing to bring Inoue back sooner. Not to mention Tatsuki will want to kill me."

"Definitely," Shinji smiled.

"See ya, Shinji," Ichigo turned to the screaming group and walked calmly past the yelling Visoreds and grabbed the shinigami's collar.

"Come on, we're going."

The shinigami looked at Ichigo in surprise, "Wait a second! Where the hell did you go?"

  
"Just shut up," Ichigo turned back to the Visoreds, "Nice seeing you guys again," then flashed off with the shinigami in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone reading this! I am very sorry for not updating sooner, a lot has happened in the past couple of months that left me unable to continue the story until now. This is one of my favourite parts, and it has been sitting on my computer for a while. We finally get to see more characters and you get a look at what is going on with Ichigo and Orihime! I must admit I love writing Shinji, he is one of my favourite characters in Bleach and he and all the Visoreds are so much fun to write. They will be back later in the story!
> 
> I hope you are all enjoying this as much as I am, and thank you for reading! Please leave a comment and let me know if you have any ideas about the story!

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first ao3 story and I hope you liked it. Hopefully I will be able to upload another chapter soon. There will be little romance for those wondering, I'm not a big fan and am rubbish at writing it. Please leave any questions you hae and I will try to answer.  
> Thank you for reading!


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